Lot 133

Theodore Bruce Auctions, Sydney, 12 July 2015, lot 1
Private collection, Melbourne

In 1999 the Australian War Memorial appointed Sharpe to observe and document the Australian peacekeepers in East Timor. She was the first woman to be officially appointed since the Second World War, following the tradition established by Nora Heysen, Stella Bowen and Sybil Craig.
Sharpe commenced duty in Darwin, where she attended briefing sessions and recorded the everyday activities of life in the barracks. On 12 December she departed for East Timor on HMAS 'Jervis Bay'. Attached to the Army History Unit, she was assigned a military escort and wore a non-combatant uniform with the insignia "Australian Official Artist". Sharpe spent three weeks sketching the local people and Australian peacekeepers, before returning to Sydney to complete major works based on her observations.
(Australian War Memorial Archives)